question on expressing

[babyjan]

I expressed 1oz yesterday afternoon to try and get LO use to a bottle. Well it didn't go down to well with him and he refused it

He didn't drink any of it but I put the bottle in his mouth, is this milk still ok or should I dump it now? I've read unfinished milk shouldn't be used again but it's not like he drink anything but he did suck the teat.

I'm using the tommee tippee and I want him to have the occasional bottle especially if I need to go somewhere etc.. Any tips on how to get a breastfed baby on the bottle? When he was 2 weeks he took easily from a medela bottle with a munchkin disposable teat that we got from the hospital. I left it till he was 5 weeks and used tommee tippee which he refused so tried again yesterday and no luck.

 

[callmedan]

How about trying different bottles and teats? The medela calma is expensive but it's supposed to mimic the suck of breastfeeding

 

[babyjan]

Oh wow that teat does look like a nipple lol! It's very expensive though and I'd hate to keep buying bottles and him to refuse each one.

The first bottle he took did have that sort of shape to it so maybe he would take from that medela one too. Thanks x

 

[RaquelDee]

Bottle refusal is pretty common and it does just come down to trial and error. Unfortunately you can waste a lot of money in the process. My girl never successfully took a bottle despite a lot of attempts, so we started her on a cup at around 4 months. By 5.5 months she was drinking EBM from a cup no problem (with a lot of help, I should add) which was very considerate of her as I had to go back to work!

We tried the medela Calma and while she didn't like most bottles that one in particular made her scream her head off. So a huge waste of money for us. I think it requiring the same sucking action means it's probably most useful for breastfed babies who don't mind a bottle, just to make sure that they don't develop a bottle preference. I have a friend who has used it really successfully with her bub, but he is keen on all bottles and is a pretty lazy feeder, so she is happy to have a bottle where he has to work for it. For a reluctant bottle feeder, the strong sucking action required to get it working is probably just going to be another factor that stops them from taking it.

Good luck with it.

 

[DaisyDreamer]

Bottle refusal is pretty common and it does just come down to trial and error. Unfortunately you can waste a lot of money in the process. My girl never successfully took a bottle despite a lot of attempts, so we started her on a cup at around 4 months. By 5.5 months she was drinking EBM from a cup no problem (with a lot of help, I should add) which was very considerate of her as I had to go back to work!

I am interested in teaching my LO to cup feed, can you give any tips? Last time he was not too thrilled with it albeit I don't think the cup was very baby friendly (thick shotglass?)

TIA

 

[happynewmom1]

The only way I've been able to get our babies to take a bottle is to have someone else (with this baby my mom or dh) work at giving her a bottle. If I tried, she got very worked up because she wanted to nurse. She would be fussy at first but she caught on and now even I can give her a bottle here and there when needed, such as in the car. Good luck! I know all babies are different.. This is just what worked for us.

 

[babyjan]

Thanks ladies

I'm gonna keep giving it a go and see if he accepts eventually. I woke up this morning with a full left boob and he drank some but it still feels full so will express an oz again.

Can anyone advice on if the milk is safe to store in fridge especially after his sucked the teat? I hate having to spill my milk

 

[babyjan]

I only wanted to express an oz but ended up expressing 2 oz without even realising. Again he refused which is upsetting mainly cause I don't want my milk to keep wasting. I put it in the fridge and will try again tomorrow maybe? Not gonna expect him to take a bottle.

My first loved breastfeeding but happily took the occasional bottle of EM. So I don't know if a different bottle will help or maybe he just doesn't want bottle feeding at all . I stop as soon as he starts to get upset and give him the breast instead. He didn't look too pleased with the bottle that's for sure

 

[noon_child]

Can you split your milk in to half ounce portions? This will give you more attempts at getting the bottle established, because you aren't looking for a full feed, just for LO to accept it and suck it at the moment. I would probably throw it away if baby had the teat in their mouth, but I might keep it if I was going to try again an hour later or something. I wouldn't keep it overnight.

I'd try it when baby isn't ravenous but not full either (like when introducing solids) and rub a bit of milk on the outside of the teat so they get the taste straight away.

 

[RaquelDee]

I am interested in teaching my LO to cup feed, can you give any tips? Last time he was not too thrilled with it albeit I don't think the cup was very baby friendly (thick shotglass?)

TIA

We tried a few different sippy cups but the key was to avoid ones with valves (or remove them) so that the baby doesn't need to suck, and to find one with a fairly small and soft spout that is comfortable for little mouths. A small cup helps, too, it's easier to control the flow. I just sat her on my lap (covered with a towel to avoid too much mess) and gradually offered a small sip at a time. I also didn't push it once she'd obviously had enough, and tried to fit it between regular feeds, so she wasn't too hungry. It was really just about getting her familiar with the process for at least a month. It was a good six weeks before we could actually replace a feed by doing this.

We first started at about 3.5 or 4 months, earlier than that I don't think we would have got anywhere. I think for younger babies I have heard that a shot glass or small espresso cup is a good option but I think that's more for feeding a bottle refuser in an emergency or due to an unavoidable separation of some kind.

 

[princess2406]

Sorry he's struggling to take the bottle hun, just keep trying and maybe if you can split the milk into storage pots at least it won't be wasted? It will keep up to 6 days in the fridge but keep it at the back and you can always freeze aswell of you express more than needed.

 

[amyamyamy]

6 days is the max recommended time, buuuut my lactation lady said they never advise women to throw away milk. If it doesn't smell sour, keep it.

oh and, my boy likes the Dr. Brown slow flows. That's what we started in NICU and he takes those happily.

 

[RaquelDee]

While up to 6 days might be recommended, you might want to be a bit cautious about this. I've found that my milk will sour after two days in the fridge, so trying to feed anything older than that was a recipe for disaster! Given that you are trying to coax a reluctant bottle feeder to eat, you obviously want to avoid the possibility of giving spoilt milk. I'd stick with the fresh stuff while trying to get bottle feeding established.

 

[gems86]

Try with a Nuby Natural Touch bottle, if you fill out a form at uknowbest.co.uk they send you a bottle out to trial to stop you wasting money, apparently 9/10 babies accept that teat and it's won a few awards too.

 

[babyjan]

Try with a Nuby Natural Touch bottle, if you fill out a form at uknowbest.co.uk they send you a bottle out to trial to stop you wasting money, apparently 9/10 babies accept that teat and it's won a few awards too.

Thank you very much for sharing I actually got the bottle, tried it and he refused

I'm suppose to be attending a wedding in August but looks like I'm going to have to stay now :/

Maybe I'm not doing it right? I only offer it a few times which he refuses and I stop there. Are there any other tips?

I even ordered a medela bottle but no luck and that bottle keeps on leaking anyways. I won't be buying anymore bottles at this rate!

 

[noon_child]

I'm suppose to be attending a wedding in August but looks like I'm going to have to stay now :/

Maybe I'm not doing it right?

You're not doing anything wrong. Babies are programmed to accept on thing in to their mouth and push everything else out - it's a survival mechanism that makes sure they get their milk but don't ingest poisons or choke on things.

Can you not bring LO along to the wedding, or take someone with you who can entertain him between feeds so you can have some fun? How far away is it? How long would you be away from LO for?

 

[happynewmom1]

Have you tried letting someone else work with him and the bottle? The baby knows he can nurse you do naturally won't want to accept anything else from you. In the beginning, I can try giving the baby a bottle but they would always refuse me, so with my first two I had my mil and dh work with them and they eventually would take a bottle even from me. With this baby, my mom worked with her and it only took once and now she will even take a bottle from me if I need her to.

 

[babyjan]

I'm suppose to be attending a wedding in August but looks like I'm going to have to stay now :/

Maybe I'm not doing it right?

You're not doing anything wrong. Babies are programmed to accept on thing in to their mouth and push everything else out - it's a survival mechanism that makes sure they get their milk but don't ingest poisons or choke on things.

Can you not bring LO along to the wedding, or take someone with you who can entertain him between feeds so you can have some fun? How far away is it? How long would you be away from LO for?

There's no way I could take him because the wedding starts really late in the evening and will be very noisy! Thankfully the venue isn't too far from me, maybe 10-15 mins to drive home.

His almost 11 weeks now, do you think I left it too late? I kinda wish I continued when he took the bottle at 2 weeks

 

[babyjan]

Have you tried letting someone else work with him and the bottle? The baby knows he can nurse you do naturally won't want to accept anything else from you. In the beginning, I can try giving the baby a bottle but they would always refuse me, so with my first two I had my mil and dh work with them and they eventually would take a bottle even from me. With this baby, my mom worked with her and it only took once and now she will even take a bottle from me if I need her to.

I'm gonna try get OH to give it a ago again. He did once but LO still refused!

 

[happynewmom1]

Have you tried letting someone else work with him and the bottle? The baby knows he can nurse you do naturally won't want to accept anything else from you. In the beginning, I can try giving the baby a bottle but they would always refuse me, so with my first two I had my mil and dh work with them and they eventually would take a bottle even from me. With this baby, my mom worked with her and it only took once and now she will even take a bottle from me if I need her to.

I'm gonna try get OH to give it a ago again. He did once but LO still refused!

OK great! It can take a few tries. I'd have him try for a few minutes at a time if your LO still refuses. I don't like baby to get too frustrated or upset. Also I couldn't be in the room when my mom worked with her.. Or with my other babies were worked with because they could sense me there and wanted to nurse. I made sure they tried when they were hungry and I hadn't nursed her yet. Also getting a small amount of milk on the outside of the bottle Nipple so they could get a taste and hopefully go for more helped. Good luck! It's really not easy and all babies are so different with these things. Some just pick it up more quickly.